FEBRUARY 10, 2017
WEEK TWO
This was a
week without a whole lot of significant activity, but with a lot of
posturing. First I want to say that I have known Governor Kate Brown for
20 years and I consider her a friend. We have done tremendous work
together over the years, especially in the area of our foster care
system. But there are also many areas where we disagree, which is how
this process is supposed to work. My comments this week aren’t pointed
just at her, but at the entire leadership here in Salem.
When she
took office Governor Brown said her administration would be the most
transparent ever. We heard similar claims from House and Senate
leadership. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
First
example: At the end of last week House Speaker Kotek and Senate President
Courtney issued a press release stating that they held secret talks between
business and labor interest groups. While nobody was supposed to know who
was in the meeting, we were able to find the list and it was not a fair
representation of business in Oregon or Oregon itself. Those meetings are
still going on and at this point no Republicans have been invited to
attend. In fact, all attendees are from Portland. One can assume
the only reason for these meetings is to try and build support for some form of
tax increases.
Meanwhile,
as we face a so-called budget crisis, the Governor gave state union workers a
6% pay increase. This is, of course, on top of their COLA’s and step
increases that happen as a matter of course. When you add that to the
fact we may do nothing about PERS reform they have added over $500,000,000 to
the cost of government. The issue here is the fact that the negotiations
between the executive branch and the unions happen behind locked doors with no
input from either the public or the Legislative Assembly. We are just
told the results and then asked to pay the bill. Once again, there is no
“transparency” in this process. I have offered legislation to help with
this problem. My bill would require all negotiations between the
executive branch and the public employee unions to be subject to public
meetings laws. I think it is only fair that the people, who have to pay
the bill through taxes, know how the process works. I think this speaks
to the type of “transparency” the Governor was talking about, but I really
don’t think the majority party will even give the bill a hearing let alone pass
it.
Another area
with a complete lack of real transparency is the budget process. The
Governor came out with her budget, which she is required to do, but like all
other Governor’s budgets I have seen it doesn’t even give us a good starting
point. The real budget we work from is the one put out by the co-chairs
of the Ways and Means Committee. Historically, they have waited until the
budget subcommittees have had a chance to work on some of the major issues and
we have had the first revenue projection for the year. However, this time
they had a budget ready to go before we even started. The real reason is
to attempt to drive for more tax increases. In fact, they are starting
hearings around the state today with a hearing in Salem and one tomorrow in
Portland. They will continue with Friday/Saturday hearings around the
state for the next few weeks. This is all political with only one
objective: massive tax increases on you and your loved ones.
They continue
to talk about the “fact” we have a 1.7-billion-dollar deficit. They
neglect to mention the fact we have 1.3 billion dollars more to spend.
They also fail to mention the fact state spending is out of control. The
fact is the state budget has grown by 40% over the last eight years.
Rather than try to reign in this out of control spending cycle they want to
expand it. I would suggest that because a large amount of Democrat’s
campaign funds come from the public employee unions they have become more
important to the majority party than the working people of Oregon who are
forced to pay the bills.
We do face
some significant challenges this Session, but it also provides us with tremendous
opportunity to enact significant changes in the way government functions.
First, we need to adequately fund education so it does not once again get
trapped in the end of Session negotiations. We also need a real
transportation package that benefits the whole state and only Oregon. Third, we
need to do something to roll in the costs of the PERS system. And finally
we need to have a balanced budget that solely deals with the State’s actual responsibilities
to the people. Republicans stand ready to help; we just need to be
invited to the table.
Yours truly,
Senator Jeff Kruse Senate District 1
email: Sen.JeffKruse@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1701 address: 900 Court St NE, S-205, Salem, OR, 97301 website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/kruse
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